APSU endorses the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure of the
American Association of University Professors as revised and refined since 1940, and
also the Statement on Professional Ethics of the same organization, insofar as these
are not limited by State law or policy documents & reports (1984) as a useful philosophic
and practical guide to academic rights and responsibilities.

Procedures

The University recognizes the principle of academic freedom, including:

The faculty member is entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing his or her
subject, being careful not to introduce into the teaching unrelated subject matter.

The faculty member is entitled to full freedom in research and in the publication
of the results, subject to the adequate performance of his/her other academic duties.
Research for financial gain must be based upon an understanding with the authorities
of the university, which is documented reduced to writing and signed by the faculty
member and the appropriate academic officer(s).

The faculty member is a citizen, a member of a learned profession, and an officer
of an educational university. When the faculty member speaks or writes as a citizen,
he/she should be free from university censorship or discipline, but his/her special
position in the community imposes special obligations. As a man or woman of learning
and an educational officer, he/she should remember that the public may judge the profession
and the university by the faculty member’s utterances. Hence, a faculty member should
at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, and should make every
effort to indicate that he/she does not speak for the university. Although faculty
are free in the classroom to discuss subjects within areas of their competence, faculty
shall be cautious in expressing personal views in the classroom and shall be careful
not to introduce controversial matters that have no relationship to the subject taught,
and especially matters in which they have no special competence or training and in
which, therefore, faculty's views cannot claim the authority accorded statements they
make about subjects within areas of their competence; provided, that no faculty will
face adverse employment action for classroom speech, unless it is not reasonably germane
to the subject matter of the class as broadly construed, and comprises a substantial
portion of classroom instruction.

Academic freedom is essential to fulfill the ultimate objectives of an educational
university - the free search for and expression of truth - and applies to both teaching
and research. Freedom in research is fundamental to the advancement of truth, and
academic freedom in teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the
faculty member in teaching and of the student to freedom in learning. Implicit in
the principle of academic freedom are the corollary responsibilities of the faculty
who enjoy that freedom. No faculty will face adverse employment action for classroom
speech, unless it is not reasonably germane to the subject matter of the class as
broadly construed, and comprises a substantial portion of classroom instruction. Incompetence,
indolence, intellectual dishonesty, failure to carry out assigned duties, serious
moral dereliction, arbitrary and capricious disregard of standards of professional
conduct - these and other grounds as set forth in APSU Policy, "Policy on Tenure”
may constitute adequate cause for dismissal or other disciplinary sanctions against
faculty members.

The right to academic freedom imposes upon the faculty an equal obligation to take
appropriate professional action against faculty members who are derelict in discharging
their professional responsibilities. The faculty member has an obligation to participate
in tenure and promotion review of colleagues as specified in university policy. Thus,
academic freedom and academic responsibility are interdependent, and academic tenure
is adopted as a means to protect the former while promoting the latter. While academic
tenure is essential for the protection of academic freedom, all faculty members, tenured
or non-tenured, have an equal right to academic freedom and bear the same academic
responsibilities implicit in that freedom.